Tuesday, January 12, 2010

This web site is really cool - and the girl is a Christian who takes joy in living simply. I love that.

I constantly have to remind myself of the value of simple living. Especially when I drive because the only thing that prevents my car's windshield wipers from going all the time is an old subway napkin I had to stick in the steering wheel - ghetto fab people!

Anyways, I am getting more into saving money. Nerdy? Maybe. I even bought a coupon book. So far I have used one coupon and saved one dollar on lean pocket quesadillas that Josh didn't like....so I have got a ways to go until I can be as savvy as those moms who like feed their whole family for 40 bucks.

Frugal Girl also offers some how-to's.

I loved this one on how to paint wood furniture

If you want, you can read the article here, I can't get the hyperlinks to work!

http://www.thefrugalgirl.com/2009/03/how-to-paint-wooden-furniture/

There's something so cool about a piece of furniture that you can put your own style into by changing the handles or the paint color.

I swear, if I could, I would learn how to build cool furniture and be like that girl carpenter on Trading Spaces who could like build a whole entertainment center. But alas, I can barely put together a coffee table from IKEA.

Check out this awesome before and after she did...

ugly night stand thing before....

totally cute looks-like-you-got-it-at-pottery-barn-after...

Anyways, home ownership on a budget has brought me to some super fun blogs and I can't get enough of HGTV. I even have Josh drive thru the neighborhood slow at night so I can look in people's windows and see their decorating ideas....I am so creepy! I am like a peeping tom, except I just look at people's decorations and furniture. I draw the line at hiding in bushes though.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Well, for the past few weeks Josh and I have been trying to bring our kitchen from the early 90s....to present day.

The walls started out very beige. And I mean beige, no color anywhere! Which I guess gave us a blank slate to work from, so I can't complain. The cabinets were just a classic oak color, not horrific by any means, but just boring. Like the new times roman of cabinetry.

We knew they had potential for greatness.

So we got to work.

We started by painting the walls a light brown color and then we added the chalkboard wall to the pantry.

Then, we decided it was time for some cabinet staining. We were excited because staining cabinets is super cheap and it makes a big difference. All we bought were a few paintbrushes and some stain. The handles is where it can get pricey - but even so, this whole project cost less than $75.

Now things aren't perfect, but it looks much better than before!

We're also in the process of deciding on a cute backsplash. I found this backsplash tile piece at home depot that looks like an old school ceiling panel, which I just think is so cute and we love the look of the silver. Hopefully we will finish the backsplash shortly, but for now I just have part it propped up on our super old, can't-wait-to-get-a-new-one stove:)

Here is the kitchen before:

Here it is after -

with stain and new handles

Before

After

Here's another view...

Here's a close-up of the handles and me clearly demonstrating the ease of opening them....

So, little by little things are coming together. I am obsessed with design blogs lately and hopefully we will make some more cute updates as the ideas come, but things take time and we are thankful for a house to work on.

Alright, this post is not one bit witty and I am sorry. But, I wanted to get these pics up:)

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Tonight I killed a cricket who tried to take cover next to my shoe rack. That's like a human trying to take cover in a pack of wolves. I mean really, if I was a cricket the safest place to be is the place that is furthest from a stockpile of shoes.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Well, this week Josh and I made a good effort in our push to shape up in 2010. Or twenty ten. Or whatever you want to call the year that is now.

Everyone says you gain weight when you get married....and 7 weeks and two major holidays later, I realize I am no exception!

I am doing biggest loser bootcamp with Bob the trainer. Not Jillian. Jillian would make me cry and want to jump off a cliff. Bob is nice and friendly. See? Look how nice he looks here.

Anyways, I don't have weights so I have to use two old bottles of sparkling apple cider leftover from my wedding...it's really ghetto.

But that doesn't change the fact that at-home workout are great! You can work out in a sports bra, you can wear a sweatband with pride and you don't have to listen to the weird guy nest to you grunting his way through the circuit.

Saturday, January 2, 2010

This week Josh and I have been super motivated. Call it nesting or being tired of living in beige-ville - but in the new year, we've traded in our nightly baking sessions for a healthier hobby...home improvement.

This week I tackled the pantry door. Not a literal tackle, more of a figurative tackle that involved a paintbrush.

Our pantry door is one of those foldy ones that came in houses built in the 80s. And my theory is - if something is kind of lame anyways, may as well take a risk and make it either way cool or just lame again. Nothing to lose here.

Anyways, here are the steps.

0. Go to home depot and buy chalkboard paint (I forgot to put this at the beginning and rather than re-number, I am naming this step 0)1. Turn on ghetto rap music (Tupac if you have any)2. get into your ugly painting clothes (jeans that kinds of look like mom jeans, high waist, weird ankles, etc)3. realize you forgot sandpaper and drive to Ace Hardware in said mom jeans and moccasins. 4. Return, eat a cookie and sand away. 5. Paint. 6. Wait for husband to come home and be impressed with a completed project. 7. Repent of pride

And here are the pics of our creation. More to come when we finish sanding the cupboards.

PS: the bottom pic makes our kitchen look lime green. I assure you, it is not. More of a grassy green. I am not ashamed of its green-ness. But I might be if it was bright lime green. I put it on a high film speed because my camera was showing water spots at the lower speed. And then I got a bright pic. But, no water spots. Ok, boring information overload.